


La Magie ne Peut pas Résoudre Les Polypes

by pickwicklingpapers



Series: Cophine AUs [2]
Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Magic AU, cophine - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-26
Updated: 2015-08-26
Packaged: 2018-04-17 07:10:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4657326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pickwicklingpapers/pseuds/pickwicklingpapers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"you’re from an alternate universe and magic is great and all but let me tell you about science” au starring delphine the bubbly  witch and her potions</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. La Magie ne Peut pas Résoudre Les Polypes

Delphine sighed and brushed her hair out of her eyes. This potion had to completed by nine tomorrow, or Doctor Leekie really would throw her out this time. And she’d never become a real witch if she couldn’t pass Dyad’s training. They were leaders in magical production, improving so many lives. This apprenticeship would make her or break her. But the liquid in her cauldron was just the wrong shade of green, and the bubbles just a little too slow to form. It was close, so close, but the problem with experimental magic was that no one had ever done it before, so she was pretty much making it up as she went.

Rubbing her eyes, she sorted through the herbs on her desk before turning the heat on the cauldron up a little. Noting the change in temperature down in her notes, she turned to fetch a ladle before withdrawing a sample of the mixture. She’d learnt the hard way that not constantly taking samples to preserve left you with nothing when it all went wrong.

Not that she seemed to need any help with things going wrong, she thought, as the glass slipped from her hand in slow motion. She could only watch as it hit the floor, contents going everywhere, covering the floor in a thick green gunk. She sighed again, blaming tiredness for the accident and the day going from bad to worse. She turned to the kitchen to retrieve the magical accidents kit and steeled herself for a long, slow clean up.

Returning, she frowned as she noticed that the mixture had collected into a puddle. As she watched it began bubbling, higher and higher, until suddenly it wasn’t bubbling anymore, just rising, rising to her height and then receding, leaving behind - a girl?

“Holy shit, that was a bad trip.” The apparition said. “I am never letting Bobbi get me high again.” It paused. “Like, _dude_.”

Delphine stood, shell-shocked, for a moment before recovering herself and rushing forward with the kit. “Mon dieu, are you okay? What are you? Are you real? I have to owl Doctor Leekie. Or Scott. Or, or..” she trailed off, noticing that the stranger was staring at her.

“Dude, I could totally ask you the same thing. Apart from the whole Scott thing, because I have no idea who Doctor Leekie is.” The girl waved a hand dismissively. “But this is totally my house. And you’re in it. And seeming as I’ve never have any drug hallucinations talk to me before and I definitely haven’t taken anything in the last twenty-four hours at all, I reckon you’re not some bad trip.” She paused and looked Delphine up and down. “But for a thief, you’re cute. How about you don’t rob me and we make out instead?”

\--------------

An hour later, and Delphine had the new girl _(Cosima_ , she reminded herself. _She was called Cosima_ ) sat on the sofa with a cup of tea and an explanation.

“Okay, so let me get this straight. Your name is Delphine and you’re a witch. And this _is_ my house, but it’s your house as well, just not in the same universe. And you were experimenting with a potion and somehow pulled me across the barriers of space and time.”

Delphine nodded. “Basically.” She pulled a book across the coffee table and pointed to a picture. “See, I was making a variation of this potion. The original allows the user to see how things could have been. But I must have got it wrong, and then you must have been stood in the exact same place that I spilt it, only in a different universe, and the outflow of magic somehow pulled you across. I talked to my friend Scott – he specialises in this kind of stuff, and he thinks that’s what happened. So if I can just make the potion again, then you can go back.”

“Awesome.” Cosima shifted in the cushions and took a sip of her tea. “So how long?”

Delphine shrugged. “A couple of days? I’m not entirely sure. I have to work out where I was and then do the exact same again so that I get an identical potion. But I have my notes, so it shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Potions, huh? Very Harry Potter.” Cosima laughed at the blank look on the witch’s face. “It’s this book series we have. There's this kid who finds out that he’s a wizard and -. nevermind. It’s good.” She drained the last of her tea before putting the mug down. “Although all this magic’ sounds just like science, if I’m honest.”

Delphine cocked her head. “Science?”

“Oh man, you don’t have science? Dude, let me tell you about science.” Cosima turned on the sofa, tucking a leg up so that she could face the blonde.  “Like, science is everything. It has no boundaries. The whole point of science is that we know nothing. You pick something interesting and then you just study it. Anything.”

Delphine laughed. “You love it.”

“I love it.” Cosima confirmed. “I want to go get my PhD, but I’m kind of strapped for cash and the scholarships are shit as hell. So I’m stuck working some useless job, because what they don’t tell you is that a Uni degree won’t save you from unemployment.” She sighed and then laughed. “But I’ll get there. I’m awesome at science.”

\--------------

A few days later saw the two sat on a bench by the river, sipping hot chocolates as the water slowly slid past and their breath crystallised in the air. They’d walked out early, bundled up in scarves and coats, treading through the crunch of first frost. It had only been a few days, but Cosima could feel something growing between them. She'd never felt this comfortable , this at home with anyone else before. Not even Shay, and they'd been together for close to half a decade. Cosima stared at the other girl, at the golden hair that tumbled down in curls, the red lips, the eyes that sparkled with love and passion –

Delphine turned and Cosima turned away, blushing. The Frenchwoman continued on, oblivious.

“So tell me more about this crazy science of yours.”

Cosima grinned and set down her drink, “So science. Science tells you so much. I don’t even know where to start. Science can fix the world. There’s no problem that can’t be solved by it. Oil crisis? Science. CFCs? Science.” At Delphine’s look of bemusement, she laughed. “Yeah, you probably didn’t have that shit – it was all science.” She paused. “That’s why science is amazing. It can create such horrible things, but science sent us to the depths of the oceans and to the heart of the rainforests. Science let us reach the moon.”

“You have been to the moon?” Delphine gasped, looking to the sky as if searching for answers there.

“Not me, exactly.” Cosima laughed, dread swinging in the gentle breeze. “But mankind went. And they’re still going. They’ll travel out there one day and touch the stars. All because of science.”

“It sounds amazing.” Delphine smiled, “I would like to try it, but I think I will stick to my magic for now.”

“You are a scientist. You experiment, right? Then that makes you a scientist. Like, science gives so many answers. The only thing you need to be a scientist is questions. It’s awesome like that. Science is humanity - it's curiosity, pure and simple.” Cosima paused, thinking of the best way to phrase the explanation. “Like, DNA. It’s so small, but it unlocks the universe. Those pairs of triplet code can tell you the history of the earth.” She pointed to a pregnant woman walking down the street, grinning as she leaned on her partner’s arm “Give me a drop of blood, a bit of placenta, amniotic fluid, whatever…I can tell you that child’s hair colour, its gender, the colour of its eyes, how tall it could be. So yeah, magic’s cool and all…” Cosima leaned her forehead against the French witch’s and smiled. “But _science_.”

Delphine leaned forward until their noses were touching. “You must miss it.” She whispered.

Cosima nodded.

\----------------

Later, as they lay dozing in bed together, Cosima turned suddenly to lie on her back, staring resolutely at the ceiling.

“It’s not so bad, you now? Missing science. I’m just a wannabe scientist. I haven’t even got a job in science. Not like you” She said, pulling herself from her melancholy and nudging the blonde with an elbow. “You’ll be a fully fledged witch soon.”

Delphine laid her hand on top of the blankets, palm upright. “What if –“ she said, looking straight at the other woman. “What if you didn’t have to go? Would you stay?”

“There’s nothing for me back there – just a dead end job with meaningless data. No family, no friends.” Cosima reached for Delphine’s hand, smiling as she brushed stray hair off the witch’s face. “I’ll stay.”

\-----------------

Six months had passed, and the two sat back on their bench, this time clutching iced drinks and each other’s’ hands. The sun was shining brightly and the flowers were in full bloom. Faint sound of laughter could be heard over the sound of running water and birdsong.

Cosima lay, head in Delphine’s lap whilst Delphine slowly drank her tea. “I can’t believe we did this.” She said. “A year ago, I would have totally predicted my future to be blank and bleak. Not, well, you.”

“And do you like this better?”

“So much better. I get you for a starter.” Cosima sat up, smiling at her girlfriend. “And this mix of science and magic we’ve created – it’s going to make so many lives better. Magic just fills in those gaps that science hasn’t totally got figured out yet. Like, I still can’t believe you guys didn’t have decent electricity when I got here.”

“And now plans are in place for sustainable power grids.” Delphine said, kissing Cosima lightly. “Because of you.”

“Because of us.” Cosima corrected, leaning in to the other.

Delphine laughed but was cut off by the sound of her girlfriend’s coughing. “Cosima? Cosima!”

“I’m fine, I’m totally fine, Delphine.” The brunette gasped out inbetween coughs. “It’s just that cold again.”

“But I gave you a potion for that.” Delphine moaned. “Your cough should be gone. You take so much looking after, I swear. Sacré bleu. You get ill so easily.” There was no reply, other than the hacking coughs. Worried, she pulled at an arm. “Cosima?” Her girlfriend had frozen, looking at something in her hand. Delphine hurried round, fear rising, kneeling in front of her the other girl worriedly. “Cosima? Look at me!”

Cosima raised her head slowly, eyes tearful and palm red with wet blood. The weak winter sun seemed to get colder, the light fading as Delphine’s eyes honed in on the bright, bright red.

“I think… I think I’m sick, Delphine.”

\----------------------

Two weeks and four doctor’s appointments later, it was confirmed.

“So much for magic, huh?” Cosima coughed weakly. “Magic can’t solve polyps, it seems.”

Delphine hugged her tighter. “And what about science? Can science fix you?”

Cosima shrugged. “I don’t know. If I could create some kind of gene therapy then maybe, but I’d have to find some compatible DNA or a stem cell source. Although if I got hold of the right equipment, I could totally synthesise something…” Cosima drifted off, eyes staring into the distance as she ran formulae through her head.

Delphine gulped down her tears and stood face to face with her girlfriend. “Cosima, I talked to Scott. He thinks….he thinks that maybe it’s you being here. Maybe it’s not compatible with you in some way, that it’s causing this, this…”

“Cancer.” Cosima said gently. “That’s what we call it back home.”

“This cancer.” Delphine continued sadly. “Maybe I have to send you back to save you, non?”

“No, no, Delphine, don’t.” Cosima shook her head. “My decision, okay?” She took Delphine’s head in her hands, caressing her face. “My biology, my choice. I’m not leaving you. I’m not doing that. I can fix this. Science can fix this.” She lent their foreheads together, breathing in the scent of cinnamon and apples that constantly seemed to exude form the witch – a remnant of her potions. “I’m not going back there. It’s hell, and this? This is something greater than heaven.”

Delphine nodded. “Okay, okay, you should try” She whispered. “Try your science and Scott and I will help” she took a deep breath “But Cosima, you have a month, and then I’m sending you back. I would rather send you back and face the rest of my life alone, than know that I am the reason for your death.”

“Delphine-“

 

* * *

 

_One year later:_

 

 Two heads, one dark, one light, sit together on a bench, watching the river flow by, legs dangling as ice cream melts onto their hands, creating sticky rivulets on their skin. Delphine laughs, head thrown back, curls dancing as her clear laughs shatters the quiet, like bells on a Sunday morning. Cosima smiles, arms waving as she embellishes the story, details becoming wilder. Delphine bites her lip, and as the sun bathes them in golden light, she moves towards her girlfriend, whispering the phrase that Cosima just can’t get enough of. Their lips meet. In that moment, everything is right in the world, and as the sun goes down –

\- Cosima wakes up. Dragging on a cardigan, she wanders outside, letting her legs take her where they will. An hour later, as the sun rises, she finds herself sat on that very same bench where they first discussed science and love, thinking of missed opportunities and far off worlds.

 

 

And somewhere, in another universe, so far away but in the exact same place, Delphine does the same.

 


	2. sequel

there's a sequel. next one in the series - deuxieme chance (pour l'amour).

all blame goes to thetravelingkid

**Author's Note:**

> cos that’s some philip pullman shit right there
> 
> apologies to france for the google translated title, hope you enjoyed it, leave any prompts or anything you want to say in the comments. it's half two in the morning, i should probably sleep.


End file.
